44 CHOPIN

sometimes very wittily written. It is really won-
derful to see the methods people hit on here to
earn a few pennies." And this : " There is great
distress. The exchange is bad and you can often
meet ragged folk with important faces ; and
sometimes you can hear menacing remarks about
the stupid Philippe, who just hangs on by means
of his ministers. The lower class is thoroughly
exasperated and would be glad at any moment
to change the character of their misery. But un-
fortunately the Government has taken too many
precautions in the matter ; as soon as the smallest
street crowds collect, they are dispersed by
mounted gendarmerie." But if social conditions
in Paris were uncertain, the arts were flourishing
there at the time of Chopin's arrival. In litera-
ture, the first young leaves of French Romanti-
cism had been appearing in the works of Chateau-
briand; and now the air was filled with the
sound of its rustling foliage. Chateaubriand,
Lamartine, Victor Hugo, Musset, Vigny, George
Sand - the very names echo its music ! cc Eighteen
thirty-one " not only marks a great activity in this
movement but also a coincidence in the story of
Chopin's life, for in that year, when he came to
Paris, George Sand also began to settle there,
and was contributing her first articles to Figaro
and the Revue de Paris. Before the year was out,
she had published her first novel, Rose et Blanche.
Drama and painting were also remarkably
froitful at this period, and if the achievements
varied greatly in inspiration and competence,